Up In The Air

DIVERSE ASSETS: LYNETTE WOODARD

Team: Cleveland Rockers Position: Guard Age: 38 Height: 6' Weight: 160 Years pro: 9Key stat: 1.69 steals per game

HAVING WAITED LONGER than almost anyone else in the league to see her pro-ball dreams come true, Lynette Woodard is finally having the last laugh. The girl whose family poked fun at her ambition to become a Harlem Globetrotter is now lending her superb jump shot and powerful drives to the basket to the Cleveland Rockers--and those two seasons with the Globe-trotters in the '80s didn't hurt a bit. Woodard had retired from the game in '93 after years playing in Italy and Japan to become a New York stock-broker. But she didn't hesitate for a moment when the WNBA was created, arranging to work from the road via laptop and telephone. The two games are similar, says Woodard: ""You've got to hustle for those accounts, defend them because someone's always trying to steal 'em from you, and you've got to rebound when a client says no. I don't think there could be a better job for me.'' Well, we can think of one.

SPARK PLUG: JAMILA WIDEMAN

Team: L.A. Sparks Position: Guard Age: 21 Height: 5'6" Weight: 135 Years pro: 0 Key stat: 23 minutes per game

RECENT STANFORD GRAD Jamila Wideman weighed less than three pounds at birth, and her parents didn't think she'd survive her first few months. Later the daughter of acclaimed writer John Edgar Wideman had to deal with the pressures of celebrity--especially after her brother killed another teen at the age of 16 and was sentenced to life in prison. Now the first-round L.A. Sparks draft pick has gone from being a much-hyped starter to playing off the bench. Has all this adversity daunted her or made her bitter? Just try to get Wideman to grumble about the vets who bag more playing time and the famous stars who sometimes elude her defense. ""These are women I grew up hearing about but never got a chance to see play,'' says the rookie. ""Now, not only do I get to see them play, I have to guard them!'' The little girl who used to entertain herself patiently at the other end of the court while her dad and brothers played basketball on Saturday mornings is now enchanting L.A. fans with her dogged defense and team spirit; the Sparks get more personal-appearance requests for Jamila than they do for the team's star, Lisa Leslie. Says her first coach and proud dad: ""Nobody's come running by my door with any Nobel Prizes for writing yet. But for basketball I already have one.''

Debra Rosenberg, Sarah Van Boven and T. Trent Gegax

© 1997